Laws to protect the consumer in relation to food safety
There are organisations and laws devised by the government which protect consumers from buying food unfit for consumption through poor hygiene or safety standards.
Environmental health practitioner
Each local area has an environmental health department run by the council who work to support consumers in relation to food safety. They are responsible for the following:
- Inspecting a food business and auditing their food safety practices, ensuring legislation is being adhered to.
- Enforcing any action if required, such as improvement notices, prohibition orders or penalty notices.
- Investigating food complaints and allegations of food poisoning - also investigating complaints about labelling and ensuring labels do not mislead the consumer.
- Educating and providing food businesses with advice on correctly following food safety law.
- Responding to food alerts from the Food Standards Agency.
The Food Standards Agency's Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
The Food Hygiene Rating Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 is a Required by law. piece of legislation which ensures that all food businesses display their hygiene rating. It is the responsibility of the local council to inspect and rate food premises.
This supports consumers as it allows them to make informed choices on where to buy their food. It applies to any outlet selling food.
When a food safety officer is rating a food business they will check:
- The hygiene standards when the food is prepared, cooked, cooled, re-heated, cooled and stored.
- The conditions of the building's structure - including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities.
- The food hygiene management and how the business records what it does to make sure food is safe.
The business is then given a rating from 0 to 5 with 5 being the highest rating
A rating of 5 indicates that the food premises' hygiene standards are 'very good', 0 indicates 'urgent improvement necessary'.